How effective were mangroves as a defence against the recent tsunami?

F. Dahdouh-Guebas^1,,L.P. Jayatissa³,D. Di Nitto¹,J.O. Bosire⁴,D. Lo Seen⁵andN. Koedam^2,

¹ Biocomplexity Research Team, c/o General Botany and Nature Management, Mangrove Management Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
² General Botany and Nature Management, Mangrove Management Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
³ Department of Botany, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka.
⁴ Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, PO Box 81651, Mombasa, Kenya.
⁵ Institut Français de Pondichéry, Rue St. Louis 11, BP 33, 605 001 Pondicherry, India.

Corresponding author

Summary

Whether or not mangroves function as buffers against tsunamis is the subject of in-depth research, the importance of which has been neglected or underestimated before the recent killer tsunami struck. Our preliminary post-tsunami surveys of Sri Lankan mangrove sites with different degrees of degradation indicate that human activity exacerbated the damage inflicted on the coastal zone by the tsunami.